


Black Velvet

by Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: AU, Absolute fluff, Drag queen Dan Howell, Getting Together, M/M, No Angst, Photographer Phil, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 10:22:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19828165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Succubusphan/pseuds/Nefertiti1052
Summary: Phil is a successful photographer who just landed a photo shoot with his muse: Rupaul’s Drag Race winner, Obsidian Rose. Will he be able to win a place in her heart as well?





	Black Velvet

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for the @phandomreversebang 2019. Thank you to @snekydingdong , who created the gorgeous art piece and provided the prompt and @amazingmitchell, who was an amazingly supportive and patient beta. Thank you so much for working with me and putting up with my decaying health and messy schedule.
> 
> This is the playlist I made for this fic: [Black Velvet](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3xncs7ulcD1nsVh4XJ9sGf/)
> 
>   
> [Art Link](https://snekydingdong.tumblr.com/post/186325756837/so-heres-my-piece-for-phandomreversebang-i-had)

Phil’s alarm went off at 7 AM. He bolted out of bed and started scrambling around for towels.  
He made sure to wash himself thoroughly and put on his best outfit for his big day; he needed to look as close to perfection as possible. He hopped on a taxi and headed to his studio.

He was equally excited and nervous about today’s photo shoot. It was a dream come true to be finally meeting his muse, Miss Obsidian Rose. To be completely honest, she was a big influence on his work as a photographer. Once out of University he had tried different styles and areas to focus on for his business and finally settled for weddings, but once he saw _her_ in Rupaul’s Drag race, he knew that he would be much more excited to do fashion photography.

It had been three years since he started building his new portfolio and getting increasingly bigger makeup campaigns, magazines and high fashion shoots. His big day had finally arrived when Rose fired her previous photographer for making snotty remarks about her choice of outfit and concept for her makeup line and decided to hire him instead.

By this point in his career, he was used to celebrities, their crazy demands and larger than life personas, but there was a tiny little detail that made him nervous about this particular job: He had a crush on his client. He would have even dared to call it love if it wasn’t impossible to be in love with someone you have never met or spoken to. He smiled as he remembered the only conversation they had had.

_Phil’s hands started sweating the moment he was told Obsidian Rose wanted to speak to him._

_“Hello, Phil?”_

_“Yes, this is Phil. H-hello!”_

_He heard her laugh softly. “Phil, darling, I’ve been going through your portfolio and I was wondering if you would be willing to work with me on my makeup campaign.”_

_“Of course, Miss Rose.”_

_“Please, call me Rose or Daniel, as you prefer.”_

_“Sure, Rose.” Phil was still a bit confused, “I- I just thought you had already stopped searching. I heard you hired Walter.”_

_“Yes…. let’s just say we didn’t have the same vision for the shoot. And, you see, Phil, this is my baby; my product. I’ve been working on this line for three years. I can’t have someone trying to take over my vision. I need someone who will work with me and make all of my dreams come true. Are you willing to be that person?”_

_“Of course! I’m more than willing to hear your vision and help you take it to the next level. What did you have in mind?”_

_“Do you know the song ‘Black Velvet’ by Alannah Myles?”_

_“Yes, I do.”_

_“Well, I have paid for the rights to use that song in all the commercials for the line which will also carry that name. I will be wearing a black velvet outfit and the makeup will be the centre of attention. I want everything on my face to be extra glossy, with lots of glitter around my eyes and a smokey look. This first shoot will be centred on the lipsticks but all the makeup I wear is part of the line, this is my way to tease the other products as well.”_

_“That actually sounds amazing. I would use a matte backdrop, possibly black and_ soft focus _around your face. If you would like to add extra flecks of shine I can do that in post-production.”_

_“Mmmm, you really get me, Phil. I think we would work very well together.”_

_“That’s fantastic, I think so too! I must admit I’m a huge fan of yours.”_

_“Are you?” she laughed. “Just one more question, I’m on your website and there’s a_ black haired _man in one of the albums. Plaid shirt, hair in a quiff, blue eyes, sometimes with glasses. Who is that?”_

_“Oh, that’s me. I just like to try new lightings and settings and it’s easier to just take pictures of myself to get that out of my mind,” Phil knew it was a stupid idea to add that to his website, but he figured that if he buried them in some album, most people wouldn’t dig deep enough to find them._

_“Well, I really admire your work. I’m looking forward to working with you. My assistant will be in touch with you soon to discuss the contract.”_

_“Of course, Rose. Looking forward to working with you too.” Phil had tried not to sound eager but he had failed miserably._

The taxi finally came to a stop. Phil paid and rushed inside to set everything up before Rose and her team could get there in about two hours. He turned the heating on, as he assumed Rose would be wearing a dress and even though the lights warmed the studio quite a bit, the weather was actually freezing. Backdrop and lighting came next. He had a variety of chairs and sofas that could work for the shoot, so he set them to the side, waiting for Rose to choose.

Not half an hour had passed when the bell rang, insistently. Phil was still adjusting one of the lights and almost knocked it over out of sheer panic.

He rushed to the door and pulled it open to find a young woman who was presumably Rose’s assistant and Rose herself but not in drag; it was Daniel. It felt a bit wrong to call her Rose when she was not in drag, but she had said it didn’t matter. Daniel had his curls styled atop his head, displaying his shaved sides. He liked to only wear chin length extensions and be able to go between Daniel and Rose easily. He was wearing a black and white leather jacket, ripped jeans and a fluffy black scarf. Phil felt like this was a punch to his stomach, Daniel was incredibly beautiful without makeup and even more so in person; just when Phil thought his crush couldn’t get any worse.

The pair smiled widely at him.

“Hi, sorry to be this early! Can we please come in? It’s _freezing_ out here,” said Daniel.

Phil blinked and realized he had been staring for a few seconds. He moved to let them in. “Of course, sorry. I just wasn’t expecting you yet. Please come in, I’ll get you some hot coffee.”

Once inside, Phil led them to a huge makeup station he had set for his clients to prepare and told them where everything was so they could make use of the space as they pleased.

“Oh, this is gorgeous,” Daniel said running his fingers through the white desk. “This mirror will help me see every single one of my pores when I do my makeup, I love the lighting in here.”

“Here’s your coffee,” Phil said handing him a cup. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Thank you, Darling,” Daniel smiled. “Sorry again for dropping in so early. I need to see the lights before I can properly do my makeup, especially the contour.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Don’t worry about it, it’s a pleasure to have you here.”

Daniel smiled widely. “Jane!”

The girl who had previously been pretending to look out the window instead of listening in to her boss and smiling into her Starbucks cup rushed to them. “Yes?”

“I’m absolutely famished, please go to Starbucks and get me a chocolate muffin and one of those apple crumbles I love so much,” Daniel looked at her pointedly and smiled.

Jane smiled widely. “Sure, of course! Do you want anything, Phil?”

“Oh, no. Thank you, I’m ok.”

Jane nodded cheerily left to get the order.

Phil made himself a cup of coffee as well to distract himself from the nerves prickling his skin. “May I ask you something?”

Daniel stopped setting his makeup on the counter and turned to him. “Sure, what’s on your mind?

“I was wondering, What pronouns do you prefer when you are not in drag, or when you are for that matter? I wouldn’t want to disrespect you.”

“Oh, you find that confusing as well?” Daniel smiled. “It’s no disrespect, don’t worry. I actually don’t have a preference. Gender and labels are not things that worry me, but if it’s easier for you, you can call me he/they when I’m Daniel and she/they when I’m Rose.” He sat down to start working on his makeup.

Phil leaned back against the counter and let out a sigh. “Oof, ok. I’m glad then, Daniel.”

Daniel turned to him again and placed his hand on Phil’s. “You are such a gentleman, Phil. Any woman would be lucky to have you.”

Phil laughed, “Man, definitely man.” He blushed and realized that perhaps Daniel was flirting and that definition may not fit him entirely, so he did a quick save. “Or, I don’t know, person. What I mean is that I’m not straight.”

Daniel gasped with mock shock, “That makes two of us,” he smiled and winked before starting to do his makeup.

Phil made himself busy around the studio and at 11 o’clock his alarm went off. It was finally time for the shoot. If everything had gone according to plan, Rose would have been arriving now.

In a way, Rose _had_ just gotten there. She came out of the dressing room in short black velvet dress that hugged her body in all the right places with matching long gloves, her hair styled into chin length curls that accentuated her glitter-covered cheekbones and her deep smokey eyes. Phil was mesmerized, she looked like an absolute angel… until his eyes travelled down her body and he was met with those thighs. He had to take a deep breath and remember to be professional. He was not going to be having that kind of thought about a client, least of all, Rose.

He forced his eyes to travel back up to her face and found her smiling wider than she had smiled all day. She was, in fact, posing for him. She gave a little twirl for him and walked to the set with such elegance it seemed she had been born in heels.

Rose was made to be photographed. Phil was honestly surprised that she hadn’t signed a modelling contract yet. The photo shoot was everything Phil had ever dreamed of. They worked in sync, moving together as if they were dancing. Phil might have gotten a bit carried away in the last few frames and taken close-ups of her face that were not entirely usable for the campaign but the results were amazing.

Rose couldn’t be happier about the raw material; she even kissed him on the cheek and whispered a “Thank you,” before going to the dressing room to change.

She stopped short before going in and looking over her shoulder, she asked Phil to help her with the zipper of her dress which he readily did, running his fingers down her back.

Jane came through the door with Rose’s breakfast, now turned dinner. “Sorry to interrupt, I can leave. The security guy let me in.”

Rose laughed, “No need, sweety. We are done here.” She turned to Phil. “Aren’t we Phil?”

Phil cleared his throat, blushing furiously. “Of course. I’ll just put my equipment away and do some editing so you can have an idea of how the finished product will look.”

* * *

Once changed into the outfit he had arrived in, Daniel removed his makeup and applied about six different moisturizers, not that Phil was checking. ‘No wonder his skin is so amazing.’

There wasn’t really that much editing required. Applying filters and subtle changes, maybe colour grading, but there was barely anything to retouch on Rose. Phil was able to get something interesting enough to show Daniel fairly quickly.

“Daniel, I have some photos edited for you. I would like your opinion If you have a moment.”

Daniel walked to the computer and gasped. “Oh my god! Phil Lester, you are a genius! Not to toot my own horn but I look _amazing_.”

Phil blushed. “Thank you. Honestly, I didn’t have to do that much, you look… pretty perfect without any retouch.”

“It’s the makeup, honey, ” Daniel laughed.

“But you are not wearing any makeup now, are you?”

Daniel looked into his eyes, “No…”

“Then it’s not the makeup.”

That was the first, but not last time Phil saw Daniel blush.

* * *

A week later, Phil had most of the material edited. He could have worked faster, but he had taken over three thousand pictures, and a good ninety per cent were billboard material. The fact that he kept getting lost in thought while looking at Rose in his computer screen did not help to speed up the process either.

His phone rang, startling him to the point of making him knock his favourite mug off the desk and getting hot coffee all over his crotch.

He picked up nonetheless. “Hello!”

“Phil, is this a bad moment? I can call later.” Daniel sounded positively small on the other side of the line.

“Daniel, oh my god. I’m sorry, I didn’t check who it was. I just - I’m so stupid.”

“I’m sure you are not stupid.”

“But I am, I just knocked hot coffee all over my pants.”

“Ouch. Is everything okay... Down there?”

Phil wanted to laugh but also to get offended, he opted for the former. “I can’t believe you just asked that! Yes, if you must know. Everything is okay.”

“Great because I wanted to invite you out for coffee… if you are willing, of course.”

“Oh, I’m not done with the photos yet,” he said distractedly as he pressed some tissues to his pants trying to absorb some of the moisture.

Daniel laughed. “Yes, I imagined that. I didn’t mean in a business setting, Phil.”

Phil couldn’t actually believe it. “Are you - Are you really asking me out?”

“If you were interested, yes.” He paused. “Unless I read you entirely wrong, in which case, I’m joking, haha.”

“Yes!” Phil stood so quickly that he knocked his chair back.

“Yes?”

“Yes, I would like to go out with you on a date or anything you want.”

Daniel’s tone dropped considerably. “Anything?”

Phil was left opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. “You! You are terrible!”

“So I’ve heard,” Daniel said sounding amused.

“Ok,” said Phil, bracing himself. “I can handle it. How about Friday?”

“Friday it is.”

* * *

When Phil got there Dan had already taken over a booth for them.

Phil took a moment to look at him before approaching him. His skin was positively glowing under the sunlight coming through the window. If it hadn’t been absolutely inappropriate, he would have taken a quick picture to capture his beauty.

He finally made his way to the booth and slid in.

Daniel looked at him with a gentle smile. “Hi, how are you doing?”

“Great, I was looking forward to seeing you again,” Phil said as he removed his jacket.

Daniel’s eyes gave him a once over. “Would you like me to order for you?”

“A caramel Macchiato with a chocolate muffin, please.”

Daniel laughed carelessly. “Oh. Thank god, Phil! I thought we were going to do that thing where we pretend we are aliens who don’t eat to impress each other.”

Phil gave him an amused look. “I mean, I think you are adorable but I love my desserts. I don’t think we would work out well If you tried to keep me from my sweets.”

Daniel placed his hand on Phil’s briefly. “I wouldn’t dream of it!” he said before finally going to the counter.

They enjoyed their coffees with a variety of pastries Daniel got them much to Phil’s content. The conversation flowed effortlessly, jumping around from their tastes in video games, tv shows, anime, art, food and drinks. Things were not as easy when they somehow ended on the topic of failed relationships.

Daniel sighed. “The thing is that I love being Obsidian Rose, she is a powerful woman who can get anything she wants, but at the end of the day, I am also just Daniel. I don’t think I’ve found the person who can love Daniel as much as Rose, if that makes sense.”

“No, it does. It totally does,” Phil extended his hand to Daniel in an open invitation. Daniel placed his own on it and linked their fingers. “I understand that being a public personality may get in the way of people getting to know the real you and not some idolized version they had of you.”

Daniel frowned and looked out the window. “Yeah, I have honestly stayed single for the past year because I got tired of it all. It is tiring to get your heart broken over and over again, you know.” He finally looked at Phil again, searching.

Phil knew at that moment that he would need to work hard to earn Daniel’s heart and he was willing to do that. “I am as interested in Daniel as I am in Rose.”

“Are you sure? You’d have to put up with my grumpy mood, see me in messy hair and pyjamas, eating pizza on the couch during the weekend instead of going to parties. I am not a glamorous person.”

Phil smiled. “That sounds exactly like the kind of person I would date. I can’t wait to join you on the couch and not go to parties. For now, I think we should take it slow, get to know each other and finish the campaign before we decide to see where this goes. Deal?”

Daniel smiled back, “Deal.”

* * *

Two weeks later, one coffee date and two movie nights at Phil’s later, the second photo shoot finally arrived.

Daniel was finishing his hair as fast as he could when the doorbell rang. He set the hairdryer on the vanity, hitting his toes against the legs and almost knocking his makeup the ground. “FUCK! Fuckfuckshit, motherfuckingggg-”

The doorbell rang again.

Daniel interrupted his tantrum and limped to his front door, checking who it was before opening it.

Phil smiled widely with a huge bouquet of red roses in his hands. “Hi!... what happened?”

“Hi.” Daniel pouted, “I stub my toes on my vanity and almost broke a lot of my makeup.”

“Awww. Poor baby,” Phil said before kissing him on the cheek and stepping in.

Daniel couldn’t help but smile. “Are those for me?”

“Yes, I hope you like them. I just saw them and thought of you.”

Daniel nudged him gently, taking the roses. “Sap. Thank you, I love them.” He put them in a vase with fresh water and set them on his desk.

“Do you need me to help you with anything or are you ready to go?”

“Not quite ready. Mmmm, you could pick one of the outfits I have out for today, I can’t decide,” Daniel said, pointing to his closet.

There were three dresses hanging on the door. Phil took each of the hangers and examined them carefully. The long black velvet dress followed the theme but it was too similar to the first outfit and the short black vinyl dress would be tricky to photograph and would take eyes out of makeup. He smiled as soon as he saw the last dress, a black lace dress that would accentuate Rose’s waist and had an intricate yet delicate skull pattern.

“This one!” Phil said displaying the dress.

“That was what I had in mind! I just started overthinking it and then doubt drove me a bit crazy,” Daniel turned and shoved all of his makeup in a case along with his hair dryer, he knew he would hate himself for it later, but they needed to go. “Ok, let’s go, I’ll finish my hair in the studio while you set up.”

“Are you sure? I can wait.”

“No, it’s fine,” Daniel said, before leaning closer “Thank you,” he said before kissing Phil’s lips softly.

Daniel looked into Phil’s eyes unsure if he had overstepped their boundaries, but Phil smiled and went bright red before hugging him. He placed his hand on Daniel’s cheek and gave him a soft kiss, sighing.

The doorbell rang again. Jane didn’t make any comments about Phil being in Daniel’s flat but did send her boss a few amused looks which he absolutely ignored.

The photo shoot went incredible; even better than the first one. Rose decided to change her makeup quite a few times. For the eyeshadow palette, she kept the black lipstick that was the staple of the collection and a crescent moon of silver and gold glitter wrapping around her eye with a variety of looks to display the different pigments. Rose decided to use the pictures of this shoot for the main billboards and magazines and reserve the previous ones for buses and smaller advertisements.

They worked late into the night, stopping a few times to rest and eat.

Phil pretended not to notice the amused looks he was getting from Jane, but when they finished with the shoot and Rose went into the dressing room, there was no escaping her.

Jane was only 5”2’ but when she stood right in front of Phil with an intense look and put her hands on his shoulders making him sit, he didn’t dare to say no. “Phil, you look like a nice guy-”

“I am!” Phil interrupted her.

“Shush! You look like a nice guy, but if you hurt Daniel I will chop off your legs and throw you into the river! He has suffered _enough_ because of star-struck twats!”

“No, I promise. I really do care about him!”

“ _Really?_ Or are you just using him for sex!?”

Phil was absolutely outraged, “We- We haven’t! I - I wouldn’t do that!”

“You haven’t?” Jane gasped.

Phil blushed realizing he had revealed too much.

“Why?” Jane asked in a much softer voice.

Phil raised one eyebrow. “Not that it’s any of your business, but we decided to take things slow.”

To Phil’s surprise, Jane smiled. “That’s nice. Just remember what I said. Legs, river.”

“What is that now, Jane? Are you tormenting poor Phil?” Daniel said, making Jane jump and Phil stand up.

“We were just talking, Dani,” Jane smiled sweetly.

Daniel sighed. “I’ve told you not to call me Dani, we are not 16 anymore.”

“I wouldn’t know, you age backwards,” Jane said.

“Flattery doesn’t become you, Darling,” Daniel smiled and turned to Phil. “Do you have dinner plans?”

“No, would you like to order some pizza and watch a movie?”

“Yes. I'll leave my stuff at my flat and meet you there,” Daniel said and leaned in to kiss Phil but stopped short when Jane squealed. “Why are you still here? Stop meddling and go. See you on Sunday for lunch.”

“Rude!” Jane stuck her tongue to Daniel. “I’ll tell Karen that you are mean to me.”

“I’ll stop giving you the makeup I get sent.”

“Fine, see you on Sunday,” She said, kissing Daniel on the cheek and leaving.

Daniel sighed. “Now, where were we?” he put his arms on Phil’s shoulders. “Oh, yeah.” He smiled and kissed Phil softly.

* * *

That night they had a full Pixar marathon, they laughed, they cried and kissed, cuddling on the sofa under a fluffy blanket. Finally, at 2 am, they could barely stay awake, Phil didn’t want Daniel to leave but he knew it was still all too new to take things further.

Then, he had a brilliant idea; he had a guest bedroom, so there was no need for Daniel to leave, he could just stay the night.

“Do you want to stay the night?”

“Oh? Yeah, yeah,” Daniel smiled.

“In the guest bedroom, of course, I’m not trying to …”

“Oh. Yeah, sure,” Daniel said looking a bit unhappy about the arrangement, but Phil knew it was for the best.

He got Daniel extra toiletries, blankets, an extra pair of pyjamas, tucked him in and kissed him before leaving.

Daniel tossed and turned unable to sleep for about an hour until he finally gave up and knocked on Phil’s bedroom door.

“Come in,” Phil croaked.

Daniel opened the door and smiled at the sight of Phil in glasses, hair dishevelled, with a book in his hands. “I can’t sleep.”

“Me neither,” admitted Phil.

“Can I sleep here with you? Just sleep, I - I feel lonely.”

Phil set the book and his glasses on his nightstand and opened the covers. Daniel took a short run and jumped in, making Phil laugh.

Once they had found a comfortable position to cuddle, Daniel finally yawned. “Good night.”

“Good night, Daniel.”

Phil turned off the light and kissed Daniel’s forehead before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Once they had left their fears behind and had a very serious conversation about the future, schedules, trips, work commitments and what they were looking for in a relationship, they made it official.

The launch of the Black Velvet makeup collection came 8 months later. Phil walked the red carpet with Rose when he was asked to, but he was absolutely happy to sneak into events and just spend time with his boyfriend without being in the spotlight.

It was not always easy to have quality time, but they took every opportunity to be together they had. Phil had planned to surprise Daniel for his birthday by visiting him in Mallorca, where he was working for a month, but he had to scrap that idea. Daniel called him crying, because he missed him and Phil had no heart to keep the secret from him, so he texted him the picture of his plane ticket.

Realizing that spending time apart was more painful than was worth it, they started to plan their schedules together. Everything became a joint effort, they started to develop concepts for new makeup launches together, Daniel handled Phil’s Instagram account and Phil, of course, took Daniel’s pictures. They still had their solo projects and careers but they mostly travelled together and took work in the same places when possible.

Daniel cancelled an interview in Germany to join Phil at a family wedding. Phil rescheduled an important business meeting to meet Daniel’s grandma when she was in town. And together they discarded all of those unsatisfactory jobs that they would have taken before just because they had nothing to do with their time than bury themselves in work.

They had finally found their other half; someone to love and be loved in return. They were business partners, friends, lovers, soulmates; and a year later, in a luxurious yet discreet hotel, among their family and friends, they finally became husbands.

**Author's Note:**

> ao3 Links:
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr: [Succubusphan](http://Succubusphan.tumblr.com/)
> 
> In case you wish to reblog the fic: [Tumblr Link](https://succubusphan.tumblr.com/post/186325899316/black-velvet/)
> 
> Comments and Kudos are appreciated!!!!


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